July 1 Kiyohashi An - Investigation, Kiyohashi An, 4 min
On June 9, Gantz, the leader of Israel's main opposition party, the National Unity Party, announced his withdrawal from Israel's wartime cabinet, and on June 17, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the formal dissolution of the wartime cabinet. Thus, after the outbreak of the Israeli-Kazakh conflict on 7 October last year, the temporary wartime command center established by Israel was completely broken. According to the analysis of authoritative military experts, Gantz's "exodus" will make it more difficult to cease fire in Gaza.
Gantz, leader of Israel's National Unity Party
Born in 1959 in Kafa Achim, Israel, Gantz received his bachelor's degree from Tel Aviv University and his master's degree in political science from the University of Haifa. After graduating with a master's degree in national resource management from the National Defense University in the United States, he joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1977 and began a long military career that coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in Israel's history.
In 2005, Gantz became commander of the Israeli Army's ground forces, in 2006 he led Israel's devastating war against Allah in Lebanon, and in 2007 he was appointed military attache at the Israeli Embassy in the United States before returning to Israel in 2009 as deputy chief of staff for the military. In 2011, he was promoted to chief of staff, and subsequently, Gantz led two more wars against Gaza in 2012 and 2014.
According to human rights groups, Israeli forces killed 167 Palestinians, including at least 87 civilians, during the 2012 war, and more than 2,000 Palestinians, including more than 500 children, during the 2014 war, in addition to multiple human rights violations during the two military operations. However, while both Gantz and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advocate a military solution to Gaza, their attitudes are very different, and their political struggles have been going on for a long time.
Gantz (left) Netanyahu (right)
In late 2018, Gantz formed the Israel Resilience Party, which joined the anti-Netanyahu "Blue and White" coalition for the April 2019 elections, which divided Israeli voters held three elections in a year, culminating in an agreement between Gantz and Netanyahu in May 2020 to form a coalition government. However, the coalition government was voted out in the 2021 elections, until December 2022, when the Knesset finally approved Netanyahu's proposal for the formation of a new government, Netanyahu became Israel's prime minister again, and Gantz became the leader of Israel's largest opposition party.
Specifically, Gantz and Netanyahu belong to different camps in Israeli politics, with Gantz belonging to the center-left and Netanyahu representing right-wing and far-right parties. For example, when it comes to his attitude toward the United States, Netanyahu has often ignored American dictatorship, while Gantz has been more obedient. Gantz is trying to win the support of the United States by showing loyalty to the White House, while Netanyahu may be more inclined to do what he wants. For example, in the current Israeli-Kazakhstan conflict, Gantz was more open to compromise than Netanyahu on the issue of negotiating a hostage exchange agreement with Hamas, and he advocated greater concessions to ensure the safety of the hostages, but Netanyahu said that he would not make concessions.
According to the analysis of well-known military scientists, the current Israeli government is composed of right-wing and far-right forces, and has a tough attitude toward Palestine, but Gantz is a general and understands the cruelty of war better, so he is more middle-of-the-road in dealing with Gaza, and is an important force in Israel's counterbalance to the far-right party. Last November, it was with the support of Gantz and others that the wartime cabinet approved a brief ceasefire with Hamas. Although this may lead to a decrease in the support of far-right parties such as Netanyahu, so far-right parties such as Netanyahu still hold more than half of the 64 seats in parliament and are in a more secure position, and they will have a greater say in the direction of the Gaza war, which will make a ceasefire in Gaza more difficult.